Area college basketball: Upstate preview capsule

Friday

Feb 15, 2013 at 7:48 PM

The Spartans will play host to Kennesaw State at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

By TODD SHANESYtodd.shanesy@shj.com

When: 2 p.m. SaturdayWhere: Hodge CenterRecords: Kennesaw State (3-22, 2-11 Atlantic Sun); USC Upstate (13-14, 7-7)Radio: 1400 AM, 97.1 FMInternet broadcast: ESPN3Top scorers: Kennesaw State — Sr, G Markeith Cummings (16.8 ppg); So. G Delbert Love (11.8 ppg.); Sr. F Aaron Anderson (9.7 ppg., 8.8 rpg.). USC Upstate — Jr. F Torrey Craig (16.9 ppg., 6.6 rpg.); So. G Ty Greene (12.6 ppg); Jr. F Ricardo Glenn (10.0 ppg., 8.2 rpg.)Notes: The Spartans have lost four straight on the heels of a four-game win streak. They fell Thursday night to Mercer, 70-59, after trailing by as much as 22 in the second half. Craig scored 29 in the loss. … USC Upstate is realistically and nearly mathematically eliminated from finishing in the top two, which earns a rest day if those teams win their openers. Florida Gulf Coast leads at 11-3 and Mercer is 10-3. The Spartans are tied with Jacksonville for fifth place and are only 1½ games ahead of North Florida for the No. 7 seed among eight teams. Lipscomb is all but locked into the No. 8 spot and Kennesaw State is all but eliminated. ... USC Upstate has won four straight in the series and seven of eight. The Spartans have not lost at home to Kennesaw State since joining the league. The Owls' last win in Spartanburg was in 2004 during the Division II days. … Kennesaw State last month beat Mercer, 83-75, at home as Love scored 32 points to go with 21 by Cummings. … Craig moved into the A-Sun scoring lead, barely edging past Cummings. … It is also a matchup of the top two rebounders in the league, Glenn and Anderson. … Despite two straight losses at home, USC Upstate is 21-5 during the past 26 games in the Hodge Center. … Kennesaw State has the worst field-goal percentage defense in the league, allowing opponents to shoot 48 percent. That includes a last-place 40 percent on 3-pointers. … USC Upstate will honor its only senior, Rob Elam from East Point, Ga. He is in his second season after transferring from East Mississippi College.Next: USC Upstate will finish the regular season with three straight road games at Jacksonville (Thursday), North Florida (Feb. 23) and East Tennessee State (March 1) before opening the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament March 7 in Macon, Ga.